


warm

by sirtsulni



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: M/M, collection of little drabbles about Them, hades is so tired, kie’s (@nightinthebrume) 14th
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-26 16:07:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21710986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sirtsulni/pseuds/sirtsulni
Summary: thank u kie for letting me write thisthis is literally just a dump of unedited ferali love kairos tyfollow kie on twitter @nightinthebrume
Relationships: 14th Member of the Convocation of Fourteen/Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

Winter has descended upon Amaurot, and even after centuries, Kairos still can’t figure out why so many people love the cold. He’s waiting for Hythlodaeus and Hades to finish a probably dull but important meeting before they indulge in some tea and sweets Hythlo brought back from a trip. 

He shivers against the cold air and contemplates Creating a second robe to pile on top of the one he’s wearing, but he’s still figuring out the schematics when a voice breaks through his conversation.

“Whatever you’re about to do, don’t.”

Kairos jerks his head up and smiles sheepishly at Hades, who is already scowling. Hythlo is beside him, snickering into his hand. Though he can’t see half of Hades’ face, Kairos knows that he’s probably rolling his eyes.

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Your aether. It does this little...curl when you’re about to do something stupid. So don’t.”

“Wha...?”

Hythlo nods.

“It curls around your hands so the fun police can catch you.”

Kairos looks down at his hands and begins forming the schematics once more and sure enough, the aether around his hands swirls and curls around them.

“Huh...”

Hades grumbles, but sets a gentle hand on his elbow to nudge him along. Instead of teleporting like normal citizens, Hades insists on walking through the city. Kairos jokes that it’s because he wants to admire his own handiwork, but they all know that Hades truly just loves their home and takes every chance to remind himself of that.

During their walk, Kairos slowly gravitates towards Hythlo until he’s essentially tucked under his arm and pressed to his side, leeching some of his warmth. Hades glances back and snorts at the sight, carrying on to the outskirts of town. As soon as the door shuts behind them, Kairos shivers bodily and sticks his hands up Hythlo’s sleeves. 

Hythlodaeus yelps slightly at his icy fingers wrapping around his wrists but allows it, even going so far as to maneuver him around until he’s is draped over Kairos’ back. They waddle after Hades like that, who is very pointedly not looking at them.

“It’s so cold out today.”

Kairos’ voice is almost petulant, happy to use Hythlo as a blanket.

“It’s not.”

Hades glances over at him and squints.

“Maybe you just need better undergarments. Let me see the schematics for the ones you wear.”

Kairos blinks.

“For the ones I what?”

A deep sigh follows.

“For the clothes you wear under your robes, fool.”

A blank stare is his only response.

“For the love of...”

Hades casts his gaze up to the ceiling before striding forward. He slips a hand into Kairos’s sleeve to feel for the shirt, his brows furrowing as he gets higher and higher up his arm without finding anything. It dawns on him and he closes his eyes, taking a moment to himself. He takes his mask off and carefully removes Kairos’s before getting very close to his face.

“Why are you not wearing something under your robe?”

Kairos gives him a sheepish smile.

“I never do?”

Hythlodaeus snorts and tosses his mask on the table where Hades set the others. 

“Small wonder you’re always freezing.”

Hades looks very tired all of a sudden and sighs deeply. He disappears from the room for a moment and reappears holding a couple different articles of clothing. 

“Try these on.”

Kairos blinks at him and shrugs, reluctantly wriggling from Hythlo’s hold. Without a moment of hesitation, he waves his hand and displaces his robe, reaching out for the shirt on top. Hades makes a pained sound and goes to find the discarded robe while Kairos tugs the fabric up over his head. The shirt hangs off his shoulders due to the size difference between himself and Hades, but he grudgingly admits that it’s pretty warm. He tries on the other few, amusing himself with Hades’ continued distressed noises when he simply displaces the shirts as he finishes trying them on.

“Oh, that one looks nice.”

Kairos finds himself agreeing with Hythlodaeus. The fabric clings to him in a pleasant way, and when he waves his hand to put his robe on again, he’s toasty and warm. 

“Ooooh....”

In a spark of inspiration, he flips his hood up and drapes Hythlo over his back once again, humming happily at the added warmth. Hades walks back in and snorts, shaking his head.

“Better?”

“Mmmhmm. Warm.”

“Good. I’ll find the schematics for you so you can make yourself some.”

Kairos grins and he and Hythlo waddle menacingly towards Hades, who just stares, an eyebrow raised. He doesn’t fight it when Kairos attaches himself to his chest, holding back a smile.

“Can I help you?”

His voice is muffled but pleased, rumbling up from where his face is buried in Hades’s chest.

“Warm...”

Hades rolls his eyes, huffing out an aborted laugh as he rests his chin on top of Kairos’s head.

“Fool.”


	2. sharing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> slams this down
> 
> this is based off kie's art from tonight of their glyphs tattooed on themselves
> 
> im dumb and feral thank u
> 
> also this is unedited im just very tired and impatient thank u
> 
> [look at art here its very nice and good and soft](https://twitter.com/nightinthebrume/status/1206104993155055616)

Hades isn’t sure how they got to this point--something about Lahabrea lecturing about the importance of their glyphs and how it represents an important part of them--but he’s finding it increasingly hard to ignore the earnest, pleading gaze turned his way.

“Hades…?”

He sighs, very put upon, and reaches out to shift Kairos’s robe aside, baring the top of his back. The skin is smooth, unmarred by blemish or scar, and he smiles faintly when he traces his thumb over the warm flesh.

“I won’t put a print of my glyph on you.”

“But--”

“No, weren’t you listening? Lahabrea was talking about acceptance and reverence for our own glyphs. Casting yours aside in favor of mine is unbecoming of someone of your caliber.”

Kairos cocks his head to the side, a small smile of realization curling his lips up.

“I’d have you put mine on me, then. You can see better, anyhow.”

Hades rolls his eyes, but shifts forward as Kairos turns. His fingers brush along the soft skin once more, as if sizing up his canvas before setting to work. Kairos shivers under his touch, and Hades can see his hands wringing in his lap.

“We don’t have to--”

“No, it isn’t that. Could you...use your own?”

“Why? Your aether pool is perfectly--ah.”

Kairos turns to smile at him over his shoulder, and Hades clears his throat, cheeks flushing slightly.

“If you would like, I would be, ah, happy to oblige.”

A smile turns into a beam rivaling that of the sun, and Hades nudges him to turn back around as he tugs the robe back once more, resting a finger against tan skin. Minute tendrils of red blossom around his finger and weave together as a dark stain bleeds into Kairos’s skin, seeming to come forth from within. The crimson magic dives into the skin and anchors the glyph, the edges glowing in a humming outline before settling. Hades blinks a couple times and rubs the aether tattoo with his finger a couple times, a warm feeling rising up in his chest. Kairos’s hand comes up over his shoulder and their fingers brush as he feels it before turning and gifting Hades with another bright smile.

Without saying a word, Hades turns his back to him and lowers his head, opening himself up. Kairos, blessed Kairos, doesn’t have to ask him what he wants. He simply shifts around until he can mirror Hades’s actions from before and tug the robe aside. Gentle fingers pet along the exposed skin, and Hades’s ears burn. When the aether penetrates his properly and anchors itself, it takes less than a heartbeat before his accepts it and weaves itself around the gifted aether. 

Hades turns and catches Kairos’s hand where it’s still raised from touching his skin, ducking his head to press a ghost of a kiss against his knuckles. Kairos grins and meets his eyes, the thrum of his soul deafening in the private room.

He doesn’t forget about it, really, but having Kairos’s aether mixed with his own feels natural. It isn’t until he goes to talk to Hythlodaeus that he abruptly remembers and his ears burn red that he remembers that it’s visible to more than just them. A smug smile spreads over Hythlo’s face and he doesn’t mention it, but Hades knows he knows. He makes it rather obvious, the grin never fading, even when talking about the painstaking paperwork they have to get through.

Kairos coming by doesn’t help, just allows Hythlo to glance between them, the smile growing impossibly wider until he stares off into the distance, much like he did when he first discovered them.


	3. together again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this was supposed to have a theme of time or something but it ended up just being something i randomly threw in at places that didnt really make sense whoops
> 
> also definitely based on [this](https://twitter.com/nightinthebrume/status/1210456982236233728) art of them that kie made and i havent stopped thinking about
> 
> someday i'll have coherent thoughts and edit stuff

When he regained some semblance of self once more after the Sundering, Kairos found he had little care for time. Time was something precious to these new mortals flitting around with their desperately short lives. He admired the way they lived them to their fullest, but he could never bring himself to care--he was, after all, technically dead.

The moment he realized he was able to actually watch the proceedings of the worlds was an exciting one. Though the Lifestream was thin and a fraction as bright as it once was, he was able to find Hades rather quickly. The glow and hum of his soul was just the same, even if the clothing he wore and the achingly tired look upon his face wasn’t. He stared into the distance, even as Kairos shouted at the top of his lungs to him, begging him to see him.

Try as he might, he couldn’t get Hades to notice him. 

And so he waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Through more Rejoinings, empires rising and falling, Calamities that wreak havoc throughout the worlds and shorten what little time the mortals have.

Kairos watches through it all.

Hades looks progressively more tired with each time he is called forth to bring about a Rejoining. His shoulders slump more than they ever did when Kairos was alive, and he can practically hear Hythlo getting onto Hades for his posture. 

Although he knows they parted on rather different opinions, ones that ultimately ended their world as they knew it, Kairos was desperate for Hades to be back with him. Not to say he was eager to watch Hades die, but a man can only take so long without his partner before wanting him back, even if it’s to get yelled at for what he’d done. What little aether of his own he can manipulate feels empty without Hades’s prodding at him in annoyance.

The moment Jade--what a good mortal he is--throws the axe at Hades and cuts him down, Kairos is ready. He’s practically vibrating as he waits for Hades to gain consciousness on the other side after he’s said his last in the mortal realm. 

As opposed to his own gradual reawakening, golden eyes open in a flash, and Kairos can barely breathe when they find his. Hades instantly scowls, his hands balling up into fists as he stalks over.

“Do you have any idea what you put me through?!”

Kairos smiles weakly.

“How dare you, you--you…”

Hades is in his face now, the raging fury dying as Kairos slowly reaches a hand up to cup his cheek.

“I’m sorry, Hades…”

The last of the fight bleeds from Hades’s body and the abrupt change in his mood is enough to give Kairos whiplash. Hades winds his arms tight around Kairos’s middle and buries his face in painfully familiar hair, taking a deep, shuddering breath.

“You… You’re here...”

Kairos returns the tight embrace, his fingers stroking delicately through Hades’s hair in what he hopes is a soothing manner. It must be, because the shaking of Hades’s shoulders slows until he’s just held in his arms, Hades breathing evenly and showing no signs of letting him go. Kairos has no issue with this, content to stand there, pressed as close as possible as long as Hades needs him, be it moments, decades, or centuries.

Eventually Hades does release him, his eyes locked firmly on the floor as tears continue to well up and spill over. Kairos, without thinking, gently swipes them away with his thumb, leaning in to press a kiss to the soft skin of Hades’s undereye. When Hades’s fingers wrap around his wrist, he prepares to be pushed away. Instead, they just stay wrapped around, Hades silent and complacent as Kairos continues to wipe his tears as they come.

“It’s done, Hades.”

Watery golden eyes finally meet his and he smiles gently, touching their foreheads together.

“I’m here.”


End file.
